At this point in the project it would be safe to assume that behind every critique that I write there’s at least 2 or 3 films that I had my eye on, but chose not to watch for a variety of reasons. This is usually the case for countries like Ghana where I lacked a great deal of prior knowledge about their film culture and who I just passively hoped wouldn’t get in. Unfortunately these rotten scoundrels managed to knock out Nigeria. But putting my personal bitterness aside, I don’t think there’s a worse scenario in which to exclude a potential selection, than a case where I find something that really piques my interest but yet is completely inaccessible. While I have vague memories about how I ever came across it to begin with, during my research for Ghana I discovered the film Obonsam Besu which tempted me in a thoroughly inexplicable manner. The trailer for the film can be seen in the first half of this video.
Based on this trailer it’s clear that Ghanaians have learned one of the more unheralded truths of film-making; that there is a substantial amount of comedic potential residing in horribly executed CGI special effects. This is an idea that one can discern from other films, like Uganda’s Who Killed Captain Alex? or America’s Birdemic. But while this trailer leaves me mostly befuddled and speechless, there’s also a part of me that’s morbidly curious as to what the entire film might look like. To be fair a film that, on the surface, looks to be both awful and criminally insane, in massively equal quantities, would be the perfect way to round out the diversity of films that I’ve watched during this project. Sadly it’ll never happen. For a film doesn’t even have a proper IMDB page, finding the full version is nearly impossible. For the remainder of my existence I can only ponder what shape my critique of this film would have taken.
As for the Ghanaian films that one can actually access, the work of Shirley Frimpong-Manso is one place to start. Frimpong-Manso is the CEO of Sparrow Productions who operate a VOD platform called Sparrow Station where her entire filmography can be accessed. This particular selection was also available on TubiTV where I watched the film. By this point in time I should be in massive debt to Tubi for everything that they’ve made available throughout this series. Since Sparrow appears to favor online streaming in their distribution strategy, there’s nothing to really say in regards to DVDs. Nor is there anything worth stating about libraries. In general I’ve found that African titles have been less accessible in libraries when compared to films from other parts of the world. I’ll leave it up to others in regards to what should be inferred from this impression.
I have to admit that I loved the way this film starts. An unknown hand vigorously slapping a pillow was an interesting way to grab the viewer’s attention right from the onset. The fact that this startling action entered the frame and made its presence known instead of having the camera discover it, revealed one of the more indelible features of how this film was shot. Later in the film one saw a shot of Helen and Sam enter an elevator, only for Ben to walk into frame after the door had closed, which elegantly established the fact that he held suspicions towards his wife. There was also something artful about the way Helen leaned into the frame when she questioned her husband on why he was coming home late. These types of framing tactics did a great job of complementing a narrative that was full of surprising reveals. The non-linear story structure was also well supported by the decision to film the flashback sequences with a classic black and white aesthetic which offered a simple way for the viewer to keep track of the multiple timelines in the film. In addition to this the image quality of these shots looked really sharp. I thought the staging of the shots were also well constructed, which is often seen in the perspectives that were captured. When Fred found out about Ben’s birthday gift, I liked the side perspective that was used here with the main characters dancing in the background, allowing one to see all the worrying, contemplative glances without having to cut the shot. This was a well designed and effective approach. The film also relied on a lot of intimate staging to put some emphasis on the subtle physical acting of the performers which was an integral part of how the film told the story. Another quality aspect to the camerawork was the fact that the style would adapt to the changing nature of the action. For instance, the chaotic camera movements used during the physical assault were perfectly executed.
While the overall cinematographic style at times was a bit too conventional and lacking in any noteworthy flair, I still perceived the film as being competently shot by people with a good working knowledge of film-making. The only part of the cinematography that I had a major issue with was the scene of Claudia getting sick. While I’ll concede that there was some narrative relevance to what she did here, I didn’t like the way it was presented. To show the character puking towards the direction of the camera was unnecessarily grotesque and unsettling. This felt completely out of tone with the rest of the film. I suppose though that if you’re going to play such a repulsive, discordant note to the displeasure of your audience than there’s some slyness in doing it at the end of the film, long after the viewer has fully committed to its consumption. This may be the most peculiar lesson that one could take away from the film.
The narrative was easily the best part of Devil in the Detail, especially given the numerous surprise twists and complications in the story that offered plenty of intrigue to keep one engaged. And such devices were executed in a manner that felt reasonably authentic. For example the complications that arose when Claudia found out that Helen was pregnant was portrayed in a way that felt believable. The use of flashback scenes were also well integrated into the story in that they occurred at moments were the characters might reflect back on past events. But beyond the intent to establish the inner mental states of the characters, the flashbacks often had the purpose of introducing the plot twists themselves. Such moments were not always particularly surprising. For instance it was so transparent from the acting that Ben and Claudia had engaged in an office tryst that the flashback scene which confirmed this fact felt completely unnecessary. Although the shot of their lovemaking through frosted glass was a nice touch.
With better editing though the plot twists were more effectively surprising. In the flashback scene where Ben questioned Claudia about the possible food poisoning of his wife, the cut was made as Ben was standing next to the door ready to leave. There was a subtle brilliance in how this small detail concealed the shocking continuation of the exchange which was revealed later in the film. At other times the editing and staging of the shots themselves were what created the twist. Consider the quick jump cut from the scene of Claudia at Ben’s home to the shot of Ben with a bathrobe clad partner, staged to initially obscure their identity. This tactic revealed the lengths that the film-makers where willing to go to in order to mislead and trick the viewer. At one point they even snuck in a dream sequence to further tease the audience. And the prevalent tendency was to lead the viewer towards sinister, nefarious thoughts before introducing rational explanations for people’s behavior, which I thought was a fascinating approach.
Of course this was an approach that required some balance for which the film should get some credit for achieving. On one hand the film expressed a devious joy in its desire to lead the viewer astray, and yet on the other hand a confident willingness to confirm the suspicions that its own narrative generated. Despite the fact that Helen’s vacation suggestion might conspicuously come across as an entrapment scheme, the flashback scenes that confirmed this notion managed to be as intriguing as the more surprising aspects of the story. Of course it helped that this particular plot suggested a final confrontation that would likely bring the story to a close. The film ended very well and it was refreshing to see a movie portray a marriage as a bond between two flawed and disloyal individuals. Since both spouses were granted the complexity of having carnal human desires, there was a certain egalitarian quality that was achieved here stripping from the film any notion of true victim-hood. I think I prefer this concept over the standard trope where one spouse is cast as the adulterous villain and the other is often seen in a too naive and innocent light.
The only truly negative thing that I could say about the narrative was its incredibly slow pacing. The scene of Helen trying to convince Ben to dine out on his birthday felt like it dragged on for way too long, while offering little to entice the viewer. The subsequent walk through the hotel lobby also felt like a fine case of cinematic padding, although this may have been designed to set up the impending surprise in a more unexpected fashion. But even after the party, the film often threatened to come to a screeching halt. I also didn’t like the length of the scene where Claudia and Ben were having breakfast at the resort. Here I saw no benefit in wasting so much time before the confrontation that everyone knew was inevitable. While the narrative was often intriguing due to the non-linear structure in which it was presented, it was still not complex or convoluted enough to support its running time. Ultimately the film offered a relatively modest story that was narrowly focused on a small set of characters.
How those characters were portrayed was another issue that I had with the film. While I generally thought there was some good work done with the small, subtle physical aspects of the performances, the line deliveries were often flat and there was little charm in the characters that were portrayed. This was especially true for Adjetey Anang in the role of Ben. In the scenes that his character shared with Helen, his tone was often too casual, halfhearted and apathetically drab, making the character seem meek and reticent. Overall there was a noticeable dearth in personality in how he reacted or played off the character. When paired up with the other characters in the film he was only slightly better. In the scenes that Anang shared with Claudia, he at least showed some more emotion and at times gave hint to an aggressively unhinged persona. His line to Claudia about their relationship being an affair and not a courtship had the type of energy and passion that I wanted to see more of out of the performer, but unfortunately such moments were too few and far between.
When compared to Anang, Nse Ikpe-Etim as Helen, consistently offered more warmth and personality. The best bit of acting in the entire film was her performance at the surprise birthday party, due to how bold and forthright she was in openly talking about her husband’s charges with good humor. Her chutzpah in this scene was quite delightful. In the first scene that followed this party, Ikpe-Etim was far better with the tonal shifts in how she delivered her dialogue and with her body language when compared to Anang who barely made an impression at all. It was clear in scenes like this that Ikpe-Etim was the stronger theatrical performer among the couple, which lead me to ponder if the film would have been better if it had been told from Helen’s perspective.
Of course this would have resulted in less screen time for Ama Ampofo as Claudia. I’m somewhat torn on how to evaluate her performance. I thought she did excellent work with the more emotionally intense portions of the story. Generally she handled the multi-faceted emotional complexity of the role with some grace. That being said though the early portion of her performance was fairly undistinguished apart from the mildly suggestive, flirtatious aspect of the role. In fact, in one scene Ampofo went hilariously overboard with this particular facet of the character. At other times I felt she was too conspicuous in her effort to slow the pace of her line deliveries for dramatic effect. This aspect of her performance was rather weak. Although, the film didn’t provide a lot of great dialogue for its performers and everyone suffered from this at times. To me Ikpe-Etim and Eckow Smith-Asante, in the minor role of Fred, did the best job of rising above the quality of the material that they had to work with.
Overall, I think there was a quality film found within Devil in the Detail. Granted it didn’t come undone due to the lack of talent or resources, but rather to some of its more baffling creative choices, the most prominent being its overarching decision to execute the story as a slow-burn thriller. With a more efficient narrative exposition this could have been a more interesting film.